For Obama, It's Wait and See on Gun Ban Question

By Shailagh Murray
PITTSBURGH -- Sen. Barack Obama sided with Supreme Court conservatives yesterday in supporting the death penalty for child rapists.

Will he take the middle road again today when the Court rules on the D.C. gun ban?

Asked about the ban yesterday in Chicago, Obama -- who over the years has advocated some gun restrictions -- was careful to balance ownership rights with public safety.

"What I've said is that I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. But I do not think that that precludes local governments being able to provide some common sense gun laws that keep guns out of the hands of gang bangers or children, that local jurisdictions are going to have different sets of problems, and that this is a very fact intensive decision that has to be made," Obama said.

"But I do think that the Second Amendment is an individual right," he continued. "So what I'd like to do is wait and see how the Supreme Court comes down and evaluate the actual reasoning in the case, to see how broad or narrow the decision's going to be. "